Another poor second half ends European hopes for Apollon
 

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - PLAY OFFS (LEG 2)

Apollon Limassol have meekly bowed out of the UEFA Europa League after a thumping 4-0 defeat against PSV Eindhoven at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia.

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Just as it was last week in Eindhoven, another grim second half sent Apollon to a big loss, as four goals in the closing stages allowed PSV to steam to a large 4-0 triumph. An avalanche of goals from Mohammed Ihattaren, Kostas Mitroglou and a pair off the boot of Donyell Malen put the Dutch side into the UEFA Europa League group stage, capping off a lopsided 7-0 aggregate. This means that APOEL will be the lone Cypriot team participating in the group stage of a European competition; the champions of Cyprus will be in the UEFA Europa League group stage as a consolation prize for reaching the final stage of UEFA Champions League qualifying.

THE MATCH

Apollon hosted PSV Eindhoven at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, due to the fact that the Tsirion Stadio in Limassol no longer meets UEFA standards. PSV generated an early chance for Donyell Malen, but his accuracy failed him at the crucial moment. At the other end, Serge Gakpe let fly with a shot, but he couldn’t hit the target either. Shots off target were more or less the theme of the first half.

Apollon got the bearings a little bit in the second half with their first shot on target, but Jeroen Zoet was able to deny Serge Gakpe from close range.

However, as the match progressed, PSV began to dominate proceedings and 17-year-old Ihattaren tucked one past Mall for the breakthrough in the 73rd minute. All of a sudden, the floodgates contrived to open, as Kostas Mitroglou scored within 120 seconds of entering the game as a substitute before Donyell Malen added a third.

In stoppage time, Malen struck again to make it 4-0 for PSV, sending Apollon crashing out of UEFA Europa League qualifying.

LINEUPS

Apollon (Sofronis Avgousti): 36. Joel Mall(GK), 10. Sasa Markovic, 11. Emilio Zelaya, 17. Joao Pedro, 18. Diego Aguirre, 20. Giannis Gianniotas(‘78 95. Roger Tamba M’Pinda), 25. Chambos Kyriakou(‘61 77. Adrian Sardinero), 26. Fotis Papoulis(Captain)(‘69 9. Ioannis Pittas), 41. Attila Szalai, 44. Hector Yuste, 87. Serge Gakpe

PSV Eindhoven (Mark Van Bommel): 1. Jeroen Zoet(GK), 4. Nick Viergever, 5. Timo Baumgartl(‘81 6. Daniel Schwaab), 8. Jorrit Hendrix(‘74 57. Kostas Mitroglou), 9. Donyell Malen, 15. Erick Gutierrez, 18. Pablo Rosario(Captain), 19. Cody Gakpo(‘77 34. Amar Catic), 22. Denzel Dumfries, 24. Mohammed Ihattaren, 28. Olivier Boscagli

HIGHLIGHTS

By Andrew Mantzas

Image Source: Sport FM Cyprus

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